Use the arts and popular education to spark civic engagement and explore the issues
surrounding the upcoming election 2008!

Fall 2008, headRush takes their wild multi-media satire to theatres, colleges, and public spaces throughout the country to ignite a community-based dialogue on the current state of affairs and our collective power to create the kind of democratic structure that truly represents us.

headRush is made up of three performers/educators who ignite critical dialogue & social action through high energy, multi-lingual performances & popular education.

Check the website: www.headrushcrew.com Contact us at info@headrushcrew.com

The Performance

The Throwdown brings street theatre to the stage and takes the audience into the imagination of a young man struggling for a "true" democracy. Through spoken word comedy, surreal musical numbers, and visual projections, headRush takes us on a psycho-political trip through this homeboy's subconscious where elements of the corporo-tocracy take superhuman form, a world where powerful fiends use hyper-surveillance to maintain their grip on inner city youth, manipulate Homeland (In)Security over the US/Mexico border, and flood consumers with endless glittering golden distractions. This hybrid performance invites audiences to participate in a collective vision of our potential for change.

The Workshop/Dialogue

The three members of headRush are trained and experienced in theatre traditions designed to inspire community dialogue. Drawing from Theatre of the Oppressed, Civic Theatre, and popular education, the trio designs workshops to fit the needs/interests of any given community.
Any school or venue that brings headRush's Tour for a True Democracy to their site can expect hR to lead community-based workshops (for actors and non-actors, focused on power, democracy, and community) on the days preceding the performance and to follow "The Throwdown," with a creatively facilitated audience dialogue, making sure that the energy generated by the performance lives beyond the final bow.

What are folks saying about hR?

"The inspiration headRush brought to our community reverberated long after their departure. We were agitated, educated and inspired by their performance and workshop, which left us with tangible tools to strengthen our work on campus and in our community."
-Becky Renfrow, Senior, Fairhaven College for Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University

"This group weaves together words, movement, and rhythm in a way that is artistically refreshing and politically important. See them!"
- Herb Kohl, life long educator, author of over 30 titles and founder of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco

headRush • 2007 • Year at a Glance

What's happening, Familia!?! Happy Gregorian New Year! As we get ready for 2008, we decided to take a moment to share with you all some of our accomplishments from 2007 and thank you for your solidarity in making this work possible…

Fiscal Sponsorship

headRush is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Community Development Institute (CDI), based out of East Palo Alto, who will provide fiscal sponsorship and organizational support.

Performances and Workshops at College Campuses

UC Santa Cruz, February 2007: Invited by Merril College, Rainbow Theatre, and the Asian Student Alliance, headRush performed two one-act plays, "Border's Gone Wild" and "Itza Reality" to a packed house at the Merrill College Theatre.

California State University Monterey Bay, May 2007: headRush performed at a music and theatre event at the Black Box Cabaret. The following day, we performed "Itza Reality" and "Border's Gone Wild" for Castroville middle school students as part of SOAR's college awareness efforts.
Western Washington University, May 2007: headRush was invited by Associated Students' Social Issues Resource Center, MECHA, and the performing arts department to conduct a theatre for social change workshop for a mixed group of campus organizers and theatre students and perform two one-acts at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.

Keynote Performances

Keynote Presentation on Art and Education at Montalvo Arts, May 2007: headRush performed "Itza Reality," showed a segment of Patrick's Wilkinson's documentary, "Birth of a Teatro," about hR's residency at Downtown College Prep High School, and gave a presentation on arts-based learning at the Santa Clara County office of Education's Art and Education Conference.
Keynote for World Savvy at the Zeum Theater, December: As a kick-off their Global Media and Art Festival, World Saavy held a special event for teachers and youth at the Zeum in San Francisco, featuring student art installations and headRush as a the keynote performance. www.worldsavvy.org

Youth Programming 2007

DCP youth perform at Montalvo Arts, January 2007: Following our Fall residency at Downtown College Prep High School in San José, a new theatre company was born: Teatro Lobos. They were invited to perform their acto, Una Story de la Frontera, at the Carriage House Theatre at Montalvo Arts. Teatro Lobos is going still going strong with new members at DCP.
Next Generation Multi-Arts Camp, July 2007 (Visual, performing and technological arts cultivating the voices of today's young leaders): Rosa and Simón (2/3 of headRush) designed and directed two one-week camps at the Montalvo Arts Center- one for high school-age participants and for middle school. Both camps were a great success, each culminating with performances for family and community. Classes and instructors included:
• Mask-making and Movement Theatre (Lakin Valdez)
• Mixed Media Arts (Yoly Stroeve)
• Clowning and Hip Hop Dance (Ariel Lucky)
• 'ZIne design (Rosa González)
• Transformative Theatre for Community Dialogue (Simón Hanukai and Rosa González)
In this project-based approach to building youth leadership through the visual and performing arts, each participant truly shined!

Malcolm X Academy of Hunter's Point, April 2007: headRush conducted theatre-based anti-bullying workshops for all grades and classes of this San Francisco elementary school.

Carolyn Clark Elementary of San Jose, September 2007: In a one-week residency at this diverse elementray school in the Evergreen school district, headRush led theatre-based community-building workshops for all four 6th grade classes in which students created Actos on issues they are passionate about.

Workshop Residency at June Jordan School for Equity, October-December 2007: As part of Allie Bird's theatre class at this high school in the Excelsior district of San Francisco, headRush directed a group of students in performing one of our original pieces, "2000 Not Fooled." Through theatre games and script workshops, the students explored the characters and themes of the piece and performed it in full costume for a live audience of parents, peers, and school faculty.

Workshops

KQED's Arts and Education conference, August 2007: After being featured on KQED's SPARK program, headRush was invited to conduct a popular theatre workshop for educators held at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Latino Congreso, October 2007: headRush conducted an arts for social change workshop, using theatre-based techniques for sparking dialogue around the power of the arts to create community-based change www.latinocongreso.org

Hecho en Califas Festival Roundtable discussion, November 2007: headRush facilitated a theatre-based dialogue on arts and activism for artists and presenters at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, California.

Community Events

"The Throwdown" at La Peña Cultural Center, June 2007: headRush presented this full length production, directed by Lakin Valdez to a packed house, followed by a lively audience dialogue.
"The Throwdown," at Galeria de la Raza, November 2007: In this sold out three-night run at the Mission District's Galería de la Raza in San Francisco, headRush raised funds and support for their upcoming Tour for a True Democracy and gained critical feedback that we are currently using to create the final version of the Throwdown!

Documentary

Filmmaker, Patrick Wilkinson released "Birth of a Teatro" – A documentary about our residency at Downtown College Prep high school in San Jose and showed the film at the Boston Latino International Film Festival. October 12th-21st 2007– www.bliff.org

Stay tuned for 2008 updates! Much love to all!

What's up with headRush?

This' an update +++
Keeping the momentum going since we got to "Throwdown" last June at La Peña, giving and getting enough love from that event to keep us going through the Summer as Rosa and Simón curated a two-week high school and middle school multi-arts camp at the prestigious Villa Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga. The 2/3rds of hR definitely did it big for youth in Silicon Valley with workshop facilitation by Bay Area artists, Ariel Luckey, Yoly Stroeve and Lakin Valdez, while Xago was busy working on his solo thesis, "Aliso In Workerland" for an MA in Experimental Performance at New College.

So here's what coming your way…
Merchandise:
You can now pick up hR gear – t-shirts & beanies – online at: www.speakoutnow.org/userdata_display.php?modin=52&custom1=318
All Sweatshop Free & Union Made!!!

Upcoming events:
More details on all at www.headrushcrew.com
1. "The Throwdown," November 8, 9, 10 – 8pm – at Galeria de la Raza, 2857 24th St. in San Francisco. $15 at the door, $12 in advance, $8 students.
The Throwdown is a wild trip through the fiendish world of ruling class antics, urban mis-education, border politics, media manipulation, and our power to create change. This psycho-politico spoken word, musical satire will have you laughing out loud and standing up against the madness!!


2. A Workshop Residency at June Jordan School for Equity, San Francisco – October-December 2007

3. "Birth of a Teatro" – A documentary about our work with the youth at Downtown College Prep in San Jose will be shown at the Boston Latino International Film Festival. October 12th-21st – www.bliff.org

4. headRush will be doing a Keynote for World Savvy at the Zeum Theater, San Francisco – December 7th, 6-9pm - www.worldsavvy.org

5. East Oakland Street Tour by La Carpa Del Feo (Fandango in East Oakland) a collaboration between headRush, Arnoldo Garcia and the residents of East Oakland in May of 2008
La Carpa del Feo was started over a year and a half ago with activist, poet and musician, Arnoldo Garcia in collaboration with small businesses of the area to bring awareness to the immigrant and worker rights marches of the 1st of May. This year with support from the City of Oakland Cultural Funding Program we're bringing out a hard-core line-up of some heavy-hitting resident performers, cultural activists, local vendors and of course you, the neighbors, to celebrate the beauty of our hood! More info to come...

In the works:
"Peeps 4 Prez Tour / Pushing for a Participatory Democracy"
headRush will be touring the nation in the Fall of '08 hitting the streets, cultural centers, colleges and universities, to ignite critical dialogue around the need for real political participation. If you know of venues ready for a headRush, log onto www.headRushcrew.com and drop us their info.

Keep your eyes and ears open for the premier of "Raw-Dios" - Coming in 2009 – Commissioned by the National Performance Network, La Peña (Berkeley) & Su Teatro (Denver)


Much respect to you all and stay in touch,
headRush

www.headrushcrew.com www.myspace.com/headrush_crew

headRush Update * January, 2007

On the heels of completing our first ever residency, headRush is now in the process of laying out an action plan from now till the end of the Bush regime (and beyond).

Our work this Fall was made possible by the support we received from everyone that contributed to the Funklorico Fundraiser at Cell Space in October 2006. Thank you to all the performers, artists, and allies who showed their support for headRush and arts-based social action and dialogue, and to organizations like Speak Out, La Peña Cultural Center, MACLA, and Teatro Vision who do so much for the community-based arts and have really had our back.

headRush spent the last three months of 2006 at the Villa Montalvo Artist residency in Saratoga, where we wrote and produced a work-in progress of a multi-media play, "The Throwdown II; a prequel." DeBug Magazine wrote a review of the piece (text follows).

Thanks to Montalvo Arts, we had the opportunity to teach teatro at Downtown College Prep High School in San Jose, where we conducted a six-week workshop with twelve amazing students who now have their own group: Teatro Lobos Unidos. Our work with this new talented young crew culminated with a performance of their new acto, "Una Story de la Frontera," for the donors of Villa Montalvo and then for the entire student body of Downtown College Prep at a school assembly, where they had the audience connecting with every moment of this short intense piece about immigration, gangs, machismo, and our power to "end our stories the way we want to." These young teatristas are stepping up for their generation.

We are also super grateful for the chance to perform and/or conduct workshops this Fall (2006) with/at the following organizations dedicated to social change: National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Public Allies of Silicon Valley, Western Workers Heritage Conference, Partnership for Immigrant Rights and Action, Youth Media Council, and Galeria de la Raza.

What's next for headRush? Here are a few upcoming workshops and performances:

Jan 31
Theatre workshop at the SFUSD School Health Programs Department After School Program Mid-Year Institute for instructors

Feb. 27
University of California at Santa Cruz, 7pm
headRush will be performing two one-acts, "Itza Reality" and "Border's Gone Wild" at Merrill College

Mar. 11
Performance and workshop at Migrant Youth Leadership Conference in Bellingham, Washington

Mar.19
Guerrilla Theatre workshop at La Peña, Berkeley, 6-9pm.

Apr. 19-21
White Privilege Conference, Colorado Springs, CO

May 4
California State University of Monterey Bay

May 11-12
National Performance Network Showcase at MACLA, San Jose

Late May (TBA)
Hip-Hop Theatre Festival at La Peña, Berkeley

Early June (TBA)
headRush premieres a new full-length play at La Peña, Berkeley

April 2008
East Oakland Street Tour, culminating with a phat Funklorico-style performance event

Fall 2008
National pre-election tour

November, 2008
headRush will premiere "Raw-Dios," a full-length multi-media play being created in collaboration with Baktun 12, at La Peña's Hecho en Califas Festival

AND we are very excited to announce a new collaboration with Lakin Valdez of El Teatro Campesino, who is directing our latest piece to premiere at La Peña in June, as well as a number of video shorts to look out for on the web.
This will be the first time that headRush has the opportunity to work with a long-term director and we're sooo ready for it, especially for the chance to work with this multi-talented up-and-coming new director.

That wraps it up for this update from the headRush headquarters…stay tuned and hope to see you soon.

Much respect,
headRush

De-Bug Magazine Review
OAKLAND BASED "HEADRUSH" TEARS THE HOUSE DOWN
by JESSE JBOZZ STONE INGRAM

On Wednesday, December 20th, 2006, Bay Area community activists "HeadRush" tore the house down at The Carriage House Theater, in The Montalvo Arts Center, in the city of Saratoga, California. "HeadRush," comprised of Rosa Esperanza Gonzalez, Luis "Xago" Juarez and Simon Adinia Hanukai are based out of Oakland, California. Rosa and Simon, both graduates of The University of San Francisco, obtained their Master's Degree in Education. Both are now Middle School instructors, with Simon's emphasis being in theater. Rosa is also a writer, while Simon has been a Drama coach throughout Middle and High Schools throughout the Bay Area. Luis Juarez, also known as "Xago," has been an actor since 1990, with two Christmas productions under his belt, as well as productions with "Teatro Campesino." He currently assists with theater workshops. Xago is also a Member of a Hip Hop Crew, "Baktun 12".

Considered to be one of the Bay Area's most innovative thinkers,"HeadRush" was selected to be featured at Saratoga, California's Carriage House Theater's "Winter Peep Show." An innovative showcase that pushes the envelope, politically and socially, The Peep Show tackled endless topics such as border politics, critical issues dealing with the environment, government, and media manipulation. This was all cleverly combined theatrics and visual. Elaborate costumes, sarcastic dialogue, outrageous humor and a beautiful chemistry between Rosa, Xago and Simon made them shine brightly on the eve of December 20th. Perhaps the most unique aspect of the show was HeadRush's direct interaction with the audience, provoking thought, response and laughter. No stranger to current pop culture topics, HeadRush incorporated hot topics such as MySpace. The Show's closing was immediately followed with a very important "Question & Answer" session that was not only a benefit for the audience, but for HeadRush as well. Fifteen minutes was granted to cover different topics featured in the show, as well as the inspiration for the show, and last, but certainly, not least for HeadRush, to ask the audience crucial questions as to how different elements could be added or omitted from the production to improve it for the future.

It has been customary for entertainers, activists and humanitarians alike, to preach the ways of the wise by shoving their message down the public's throat. This is not the case with HeadRush, at all. HeadRush delivers a strong, important message with confidence and class. HeadRush simply states the facts. Facts, that perhaps, the small town of Saratoga needed to hear.

The audience brought a positive vibe and great energy which was necessary for HeadRush to carry their show. The audience was treated to a beautiful reception at The Montalvo Arts Center with delicious catering, a gorgeous view of the Saratoga Hills and, of course, community socializing & networking.

It is clear that with 2007 upon us, there is no doubt that HeadRush will continue to push the envelope politically and socially, putting the San Francisco Bay Area on the map. HeadRush stands out as a unique force, with a beautiful chemistry. Their talent cannot be restricted to only Northern California, and will, inadvertently, cross boundaries, making waves and strides across the United States. The combination of Simon's vulnerability, Rosa's comedic sensibility, and Xago's depth makes for an always interesting stage presence. HeadRush are the next rising street icons.

Television Appearances

 

July 2006 - headRush was featured on SPARK (KQED) in July 2006.

The focus of the segment was "The Throwdown", a one-hour, multi-media, psycho-political satire (description above).

Watch the 6-minute video at: http://www.kqed.org/arts/places/spark/profile.jsp?id=8641

 

Or find us under Artist Profiles at www.kqed.org/spark

 

 

Radio Appearances

 

2003-2005 – Various performances at KPFK Los Angeles, KPFA Berkeley & KALX Berkeley

 

Divine Forces Radio, The Morning Show, Radio Café, La Honda Bahia, Flashpoints, Hard Knock Radio and more

Rosa Esperanza González is a teacher, writer, and visual/performing artist.  Teaching middle school in East Oakland, her commitment is to nurturing young leaders and new voices.  Outside of teaching, Rosa is a member of headRush, a guerrilla performance crew dedicated to inspiring working class communities through a blend of spoken word and teatro-style political satire.  She is also a founding member of Las Man@s, an all-women's writing and performance group and belongs to the End-dependence Poet's Collective.  In 2002, she wrote and directed her first play, "My Camino Real," produced by Los Del Pueblos Actors' Lab and staged at MACLA in San Jose.  She writes to evoke spirit, inspire young people and honor her ancestors.  Rosa has a Masters in Latin American Studies from Stanford and a Masters in Teaching from the Arts in Education program at the University of San Francisco.

 

     Simón Adinia Hanukai has been performing theater, which focuses on different social and political issues, since 1994, and has been teaching theater in middle and high schools since 2000 in Mountain View, San Jose, East Palo Alto, the Bronx and Oakland.  He has written, performed and directed productions with Rainbow Theater & JUICE, Santa Cruz-based performance collectives. He performs with the theater group, headRush, that uses theater to educate people about issues that effect working class people nation wide, and co-founded the Naked Souls Artists Alliance, an artist collaborative that brings together local visual, performance and literary artists to share their work with the community. He is also currently the Co-Artistic Director of the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, a multicultural group of teens who create original performance art pieces that combine hip-hop, modern, and aerial dance, theater, martial arts, song and rap. Simón has a Masters degree in education from the University of San Francisco¹s Center for Teaching Excellence and Social Justice. 

 

      Luis "Xago" Juarez has been dedicated to teatro since first attending a Summer workshop at El Teatro Campesino in 1990 and has been active in producing work for his community in East Salinas, starting with a one-man show, "Zero" and two Christmas plays, "A Christmas Carol Y Que!"  and "A Market Street Milagro" produced by the Alisal Center for the Fine Arts.  Xago has starred in numerous theatre productions with Teatro Campesino and Los del Pueblo Actors Lab.  In 1993 he co-founded a community-based performance troupe called Los Illegals Comedy Clica.  LICC has performed in venues in and around the state with an emphasis on at-risk populations, including juvenile detention centers and public schools.  In 2002 LICC was featured in a series of events in New York City commemorating the 911 attack.   From 1997 to present, Xago has been a member of Baktun 12, a hip-hop theater crew from East Salinas.   Xago now lives in and leads theatre workshops for middle and high school students. In addition to teaching, he is a member of headrush, an Oakland-based a spoken word teatro troupe.

 

"headRush channels the youthful dynamism, political consciousness and humor of the "ñ" generation.  Audiences relate and cheer accordingly. I am always looking forward to performing with them again, anytime, any place."

- Bill Santiago, stand-up comedian (Spanglish 101, Comedy Central)

 

"headRush represents the evolution of Chicano theater.   Teatro is 

many things and today, most certainly,  it is rip tide spoken word, 

anti-globalization agit-prop performed by a high energy multicultural 

crew."

   -Elisa Marina Alvarado, Artistic Director, Teatro Vision

  

"This group weaves together words, movement, and rhythm in a way that is artistically refreshing and politically important.  See them!"

    - Herb Kohl, life long educator, author of over 30 titles and founder of the Center for Teaching Excellence and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco

 

"headRush comes on like a locomotive - high-energy performance and thought-provoking humor combined!  Are they spoken word? Are they comedy?  Are they political theatre?  They are all of the above and more!  Their collective talent and their innovative style take on the issues of our day with their own unique spin, challenging the audience to both laugh and think, and have a great time doing both!"

   - Felicia Gustin, Co-Director of Speak Out

  

"headRush takes spoken word, poetic verse theatre, and guerilla theatre and throws is all in a stew to create a magical dish… I can't wait to see it again to see what new things I can get out of it."

-    Gerald Reyes, 6^th grade teacher at Lighthouse Community Charter School in Oakland

 

 "headRush magically creates a compelling combination of scathing political commentary, brilliantly written and executed spoken word and energetic, intentional movement, all from the perspective of educators who really understand and care about young people and community.  You can't get better than that!"

-    Sarah Crowell, Executive Director of Destiny Arts Center

 

 

"I've never seen anything like this, I've only imagined it."

- Mark Gonzalez, bass player for the group Grito Serpentino

 

Act, Inform, Inspire: Using Theater as a Tool for Social Change

 

The performance arts are powerful tools for social change. In this fun and fast paced workshop the members of headRush guide the participants through a variety of games and activities that explore relevant social and personal issues.  Participants are asked to come prepared to move their body, speak their truth, and act from the heart.

 

 

Spoken Word and Image Theatre

 

headRush has developed an innovative spoken word workshop that incorporates movement through image theatre.  The workshop is designed for participants to collectively explore complex issues through a series of creative tableau like exercises as part of a group writing process culminating with performances of group poems with physical storytelling. 

 

 

¡ACTOS!  A Chicano Theatre Workshop

 

With extensive experience in Chicano Theatre, headRush leads workshops in developing actos.  Highly-stylized with minimal production costs, these short one acts, popularized by El Teatro Campesino during the Chicano/farmers movement, address community issues using comedy, satire, and exaggerated action.  headRush guides participants in the process of creating an acto, from brainstorming an issue pertinent to the group to mask-making and staging.

 

 

Theatre of the Oppressed: Image and Forum Theatre

 

Inspired by the work of Paolo Freire and developed by Agosto Boal among others, Theater of the Oppressed techniques are designed to deconstruct existing power dynamics and give both actors and audience opportunities to explore the infinite possibilities available to them within each moment.  The members of headRush draw upon these life-changing techniques to design workshops for schools, universities and organizations.  Each workshop begins with a series of games that help participants become physically present and mentally reflective, as well as promote guidelines for positive group interaction.  Participants are then guided through a process of critically examining particular social conditions through movement, frozen images, and a variety of strategies for physical and verbal dialogue.  Depending on the scope of the workshop, it can culminate with anything from a newfound sense of self and community to an actual performance.  All Theatre of the Oppressed events are designed to invite dialogue and significant audience participation.

5-minute to 1-hour performances* with topics ranging from:

 

-          Participatory Democracy

-          Education

-          Immigration

-          Media Literacy

-          Institutional Violence

-          Consumerism

-          Prison Industry

-          Corporate Economics

-          Cultural Identity

-          War

 

One time or a series of workshops catered to the needs of your group including:

 

• Spoken word theater
• Street theater
• Theater of the Oppressed
• Intro to performing arts as tool for social change
• Work with a community based organization to help them create their own performance group
• Teacher training workshops

*headRush also includes in our repertoire, a number of sketch comedy and spoken word pieces on various topics (listed above) and creatively combines them to match the performance venue.

 

**In addition, headRush is continually developing new works in response to community and world events and creates performances pieces by request.